Anthony Scullion RGI

A Scottish painter whose work centres on the figure, Anthony Scullion explores the flesh and soul of the human body, expressing through the figure the depths of the psyche alongside the beauty of the flesh. His paintings mirror a world in which humanity searches for meaning in the face of crisis, with identity, place, and a sense of belonging threading throughout.

Drawing on the chiaroscuro of Rembrandt, the spirituality of Giacometti, and the distortion of Bacon, Scullion turns these influences into a springboard for his own dynamic. Paint merges with the body, and the spaces in between take on a weight that often becomes as important as the subjects themselves, in what might be described as a "soulscape."

While portraiture remains his classical mode, the single figure is at times joined by another or set within a group. The dynamic between figures shares a connectivity with the viewer, inviting an emotional, sometimes visceral response. It is this capacity for viewers to find their own meaning that gives the work its timeless quality.

Working in themes and series, Scullion layers paint and scrapes it back, revisiting the surface and sometimes leaving areas of raw canvas, blurring the line between what is finished and what captures the gestural act of creation. The result carries a sense of shift and change, drawing the viewer into their own imaginings.

"What remains in the end is the fundamental essence of existence itself, and this 'stuff', placed before us, is inescapably, a portrait of us all."